Warrior in Training
by Autobot-Tiff
Summary: The newest memer of the Autobot team, Smokescreen, has self doubt and feels like he is worthless to the team because of his recent mistakes. When he tries to sneak out one night, the Autobot leader gives him comforting words and personally cheers him up. Requested by Alexandria Prime :)


Requested by: Alexandria Prime :) Cute and fluffy fluff between Smokescreen and Optimus! Tickles ahead! X3

**Transformers Prime**

**Warrior in Training**

Smokescreen quietly made his way past the other Autobots recharging quarters, careful as to not wake them. When he walked by Optimus Prime's quarters, he stopped for a moment.

He sighed to himself. "Sorry, Prime. I let you guys all down," he whispered to himself before continuing on. He suddenly froze at the entrance of the main hangar because he saw Optimus Prime at the monitors.

_It's really late. Why is he still up? _Smokescreen thought. He hoped Prime wouldn't notice him attempting to sneak out of the base. He knew sneaking out of the base at night was wrong, but he had his own reasons.

Taking a deep breath, he tiptoed past Optimus who was oblivious to the fact that one of his Autobots was leaving without permission. At least that's what he thought.

From the corner of his optic, Optimus could see that someone was behind him, but he didn't want to turn around. He thought it was Bumblebee at first, but when he finally turned around, he saw a brief image of Smokescreen dissapearing towards the base entrance.

"Smokescreen?" he asked out loud. "Why on earth are you leaving the base at this time?"

Tuning off the monitors, Optimus decided he would follow the young Autobot and see where he was going. _After all, _thought Prime. _He seemed upset about something earlier._

Smokescreen didn't stop running until he was at least two three miles from the base. He stopped to catch his breath. Since it was nighttime, Smokescreen didn't worry about humans noticing him. That and, he was still new at the whole "robots in disguise" thing. He started walking alongside a nearby canyon, glancing at the clear night sky above.

"What's wrong with me?" he angrily asked himself. "Optimus gives you one simple task, and you nearly expose yourself to the humans! Why can't I do anything right? Face it, you bee it right in front of Optimus Prime. And now, he'll probably never let you go out on the field again because he knows how terrible you are at keeping a low profile."

Smokescreen angrily kicked at the dirt beneath his peds. In his recent arrival to Earth, he was excited to finally fight alongside the mighty Optimus Prime. But he quickly learned that adapting to this new planet was harder than he thought. He had to acquire a vehicle mode, and couldn't interact with other humans.

The hardest part for him was keeping a low profile around the humans. Being a young mech, like Bumblebee, he was very curious and eager to see new things. But of course, Bee knew better than to expose himself because he has been on Earth longer than Smokescreen has.

_But still, _he thought. _How could I have been so stupid? I completely embarrassed myself in front of the others and Prime. Way to go, Smokescreen."_

Even though Optimus had clearly said that it wasn't his fault, Smokescreen still felt upset. He remembered what Ratchet and Arcee said to him.

This _is how you handle things?!" _Ratchet scolded him.

_"Blowing your cover is never okay," _she told him.

And when Optimus said it wasn't entirely his fault, Ratchet and Arcee made him feel worse with their comments.

_"It's not his fault? How?" _they said in disbelief.

Smokescreen felt even more upset and ashamed when Prime found out what he and Jack did to somebody's car during their driving lesson. They were both passed by Vince, the bully at Jack's school, and Smokescreen got mad when he threw a cheeseburger at his window just because he saw Jack in the car. He encouraged Jack to get back at him with some sweet revenge by covering Vince's entire car with cheeseburgers to give him a taste of his own medicine.

It seemed funny at first, watching Vince's car get splattered with ketchup stained burgers. But when they got back at base, the other Autobots were not pleased when they found out what they both did.

"Relax," Smokescreen had said. "No humans were harmed throughout all this. Honest."

But when _Optimus _found out...Smokescreen felt like he wanted to dig a very deep hole, crawl into it, and die. He felt sick to his fuel tank every time he saw Prime's displeased face in his thoughts. He didn't want to confront Optimus and apologize for his actions because he knew it wouldn't help. He felt like Prime wouldn't let him fight on the field after what he did.

After that incident, Smokescreen felt like he didn't belong with Team Prime. He wanted to leave, but he didn't know where to go. He couldn't just go back to Cybertron. Earth was his home now, at least until the Autobots won the war and were able to reconstruct their home planet. Smokescreen then made the decision to permanently leave Team Prime.

"I bet they wouldn't even notice that I've left," he said. "I may not have anywhere to go, but maybe I'll just cruise around this planet like a Cybertronian hippie. At least, until I can figure something out." He turned around, glancing in the direction of the Autobot base. "Sorry, Prime. But your team would be bette off without a fraggin, useless Autobot like me...You might as well ship me in a box back to Cybertron for what I've done lately."

Suddenly, Smokescreen saw a pair of bright headlights in the distance, along with the rev of a vehicle engine. Panicking, he thought it was a Decepticon Vehicon. He transformed his servos in to his blaster and aimed.

"Wait a sec," he said. "What if that's a human?"

The vehicle was coming closer, and Smokescreen was blinded by the headlights.

"Aw scrap! I'm about to annihilate a human!"

Remembering what to do around other humans, he quickly transformed into his vehicle form.

_It's probably pointless now," _he thought. _"They already saw me."_

Finally, the mysterious vehicle stopped in front of him, and turned off its headlights. Smokescreen gasped when he saw the familiar red and blue paint job.

"O-Optimus?"

The red and blue truck transformed into said Autobot. "Smokescreen, get up and transform. We need to talk, soldier."

Sighing, Smokescreen quietly obeyed. He kept his gaze to the ground. He didn't want to look at Prime. He was so embarrassed and upset about his actions.

"O-Optimus, I...I don't know where to begin."

"How about addressing the fact that you left the base without my permission?"

The young mech shrugged. "I wanted to be alone. And besides, I've decided that I'm leaving Team Prime. For good."

"Leaving? You just got here."

"It doesn't matter," Smokescreen said, turning his helm away. "You all would be better off without a big screw up like me, trust me."

"Smokescreen, don't say that," Prime said firmly yet gently.

"But it's true!" he continued. "I mean, look what I've done recently. I disobeyed your orders when you said don't expose yourself to humans, and I did it anyways! And then, I just made things worse when me and Jack trashed that other kid's car. Face it, Optimus, I'm of no good use to this team. I'm...I'm like a child, for Primus' sake. I'm sorry, Optimus...but I need to leave. Your team doesn't deserve to have an Autobot like me."

He turned around and was about to walk away when Prime grabbed and held him back by his doorwings.

"Whoa!" he squeaked in surprise.

"Now look here," Optimus grabbed both his shoulders, forcing the young mech to look at him. "I don't ever want to hear you say that about yourself. You may feel like you are useless to this team, but you are not. I've seen your fighting skills and eagerness, Smokescreen, and that proves that you are truly a valued member of this team."

"The others don't think that way..." Smokescreen muttered.

"They do not see your amazing potential, Smokescreen. Trust me when I say, you are more than meets the eye. I know that your recent actions were not the wisest choices, but that is alright because you are still young. And you are still learning. In time, I know that you will grow up to be an amazing warrior. It just takes time. Believe me, not even Bumblebee was perfect at being our scout; he made mistakes, too, but now look at him."

"But that's different," Smokescreen choked on a sob. "Everyone else is good at something, except me. I d-don't deserve to be on this team!"

He was surprised when Optimus suddenly pulled him in for a hug. He felt kind of embarrassed that he suddenly got emotional, but he couldn't help it. He just needed to let go of all that negative energy bottled up inside.

For a while, Smokescreen was wrapped in Prime's arms, snuggling in his warm embrace. Optimus smiled at the youngling, rubbing his back and door wings in attempt to confort him. He couldn't help but notice that Smokescreen was acting like Bumblebee whenever he was upset over something. They were the same age, after all.

Smokescreen caught himself purring in contentment at Prime's soothing touches. Now he felt embarrassed, suddenly acting like a sparkling in front of Optimus Prime. He heard him chuckle.

"You like that, don't you, young one?"

Smokescreen nodded shyly. "Um, y-yeah. I feel better now, Prime. Thanks." He started squirming to get out of Prime's grasp. "Um...you can let me go now."

"I know, but you do not have to feel embarrassed to act like a sparkling in front of me. I do not mind. And I will not speak of this with anyone."

"Y-Yeah but—AH!" Smokescreen squeaked when he felt Optimus' fingers graze over his shoulder blades and the back of his neck.

Optimus noticed, and that just intrigued him to continue. He smiled to himself when he realized that this young Autobot was ticklish like his youngling Bumblebee.

"Are you alright, Smokescreen?" Prime asked innocently, his fingers lightly stroking over his side. "You seem like something is bothering you."

Smokescreen nodded while hiding his face in Optimus' chest. He could feel his giggles building up inside him, but he absolutely refused to laugh. He didn't want to look silly or childish in front of Optimus.

"Y-Yes! I'm f-f-fine! Just...a l-little sensitive, that's all."

"Then why are you hiding your face? Could it perhaps be that you are...ticklish?"

Smokescreen shook his head. "N-No I'm not. I'm not, Prime."

"Respectfully, I disagree. You are obviously lying to me, Smokescreen."

Prime suddenly used both hands to lightly tickle the young mech's sides. Smokescreen jolted with a loud laugh. He felt his knee joints start to tremble. He never knew Optimus had a playful side to him before. This seemed strange, coming from the Autobot leader. But surprisingly, Smokescreen didn't mind at all. He knew Prime was just trying to cheer him up, even if he had to do it forcibly.

But still, there was a part of him that didn't want to let him let go and laugh. He had a reputation to keep, and he didn't want that to be crushed just because he was ticklish. Heck, Smokescreen didn't even _know _that he was ticklish!

Smokescreen leaned against Optimus, covering his mouth to quiet his loud giggling. He flinched and squeaked every time Prime dug his fingers In to his side.

"AH! Optimus, ha-ha-ha-ha, w-what are you doing?"

"Just relax, Smokescreen. This will make you feel better in no time." Prime suddenly moved his hands higher to Smokescreen's arm joints. The second his fingers made contact with his arm joints, Smokescreen lost it. He shrieked loudly and lost his strength, collapsing to the floor and hugging himself.

"AAAH! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! O-Optimus, what are you doing to me?!"

"I'll ask the questions around here," Optimus said, leaning down. "Are you feeling better?"

The young mech nodded. "Yeah. Honest. Thanks for—AH! What the—?! Optimus, sto-ho-ho-ho-ho-hop that!"

Prime interrupted him by slowly dragging his digits across Smokescreen's stomach. "I'm sorry, what was that? I could not understand you." Smokescreen didn't answer, and kept on laughing. "Smokescreen, you lied to me about not being ticklish. How dare you lie to a Prime!"

"N-No-ho-ho-ho I didn't!"

"Yes you did. And you know how I know? Your weak point is right...here!"

Optimus suddenly shot both his hands under Smokescreen's arm joints and tickled him there. Smokescreen didn't even try to hold back his laughter.

"AHA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! STOP I-HI-HI-HI-HI-HI-HI-HIT! STOP IT, PLEA-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEASE!"

"Only unless you promise to never doubt yourself ever again," Optimus said over his laughter. When Smokescreen didn't answer, Prime tickled his underarm joints even harder, causing the young mech to laugh harder. "Is that clear?!"

"AAAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!! Y-YE-HE-HE-HE-HE-HES!! YOU'RE CLEAR, YOU'RE CLEAR!! JUST PLEASE STAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAP!! PLEASE!!"

Optimus couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the laughing, squirming, young Autobot. This reminded him of the many times he used to tickle Bumblebee to cheer him up whenever he was sad.

"One more thing: do you promise you will never doubt your potential and try to leave this team?" Prime moved his had farther down to the young mech's peds. When he gently scratched under his right ped, Smokescreen screamed and quickly pulled his legs to his chest. Optimus was quick to catch his ankle and continue to tickle underneath his sensitive peds.

"AAAAAAAHHH!! OH PRIMUS, YE-HE-HE-HE-HE-HE-HES!! I PROMISE!! JUST STOP I-HI-HI-HI-HI-HIT, PLEA-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEASE!! I HA-HA-HA-HA I CAN'T TA-HA-HA-HA-HAKE IT ANYMO-HO-HO-HORE!! PLEASE OPTIMUS, STA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAP!!"

Optimus could see that Smokescreen had laughed himself to tears so he finally decided to stop. The poor youngling laid there, breathing heavily and slightly giggling from the aftershock tickles that raced through his circuits. He slowly sat up, locking eyes with the Prime.

"Feeling better now?"

"Yes. Thank you, Prime. I greatly appreciate it."

Prime nodded. "Good. Because if you weren't feeling better, I would make you go through that all over again." Both of them laughed.

Optimus noticed how tired Smokescreen looked. "Why don't we head back to base? You need some rest."

Smokescreen tiredly nodded. "Does this mean your going to hold me back from going out on the field?"

"Of course not. You have the potential of becoming a great warrior, Smokescreen. Do not doubt yourself or let others crush your dream."

The young Autobot was touched by his words and gave him a huge hug, to which Prime returned. As the full moon glowed from above, Optimus guided the tired youngling back to base. Smokescreen rested his helm against Prime, snuggling against him the way a sparkling would do to their parent.

And along the way, Optimus gazed down at Smokescreen, petting his helm with a fatherly smile.

_You are destined for greatness, Smokescreen," _he thought to himself. _Never loose sight of that._

**THE END**


End file.
